Maui Lani Partners

After more than seven months of discussion, on January 5, 2018, the Maui County Council passed the Sand Mining Moratorium into law, the final vote 7 – 2 (Yuki Lei Sugimura and Riki Hokama were the no votes).

But the bill provides exemption from the moratorium to anyone with an already existing permit. In Nov. 2017, the Dept. of Public Works RENEWED Maui Lani Partners’ permit for work in their Phase 9 site – even though a judge issued a preliminary injunction against all work in that area, stating “…disturbance of burial sites will produce substantial, irreparable harm.”

Maui Lani Partners has been stopped from working by a Maui court of law but our own county government rubber stamped their request to continue – without talking to the State Historic Presentation Division either. This is just one glaring incident that shows how our permit system is broken and needs to be rectified immediately. Because of the Dept. of Public Work’s actions, Maui Lani’s Phase 9 site will be exempt from the sand mining moratorium – unless the county rescinds it.

On Friday the 5th, before the council voted, Mālama Kakanilua and Sierra Club Maui held a protest outside the County building to call on the County to rescind their renewal of Maui Lani’s permit.

News Coverage

Hawai’i News Now Reporter Mahealani Richardson did a video story on the passage of the moratorium, and the Maui News and Maui Now published articles: